(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a high voltage battery cooling control technique for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology that suppresses or prevents the temperature of a high voltage battery from increasing excessively while a vehicle is left in an idle state in the daytime in an area having direct exposure to sunlight.
(b) Background Art
An environmental vehicle with a high voltage battery, such as a hybrid vehicle, includes a cooling device for appropriately cooling the high voltage battery. The cooling device should use an appropriate control method to control the cooling of the battery so as to prevent the high voltage battery from being overheated.
In the conventional art, such methods of cooling the high voltage battery typically use air cooling. For example, air in a vehicle is drawn in and flows over the high voltage battery, thereby cooling the battery using the air. However, a disadvantage of this conventional art method is that the temperature of the air in the vehicle can vary significantly, thereby decreasing the efficiency with which it can cool the high voltage battery. For example, air temperature within the vehicle varies due to a variety of factors such as operation of an air-conditioner or a heater, outdoor air temperature, and the like. In some cases, the temperature of the air in the vehicle is too high to suitable for cooling the high voltage battery, which may make it impossible to adequately cool the battery. When the high voltage battery cannot be adequately cooled, it may be impossible for the vehicle to travel due to the generation of an excessive temperature of the high voltage battery.
As an example, when the outdoor air temperature is high, and the vehicle is left in an idle state in an area having direct exposure to sunlight (e.g., an area with no shade), the indoor air temperature of the vehicle may become excessively high. In this case, the high voltage battery is subjected to an over-temperature state. Disadvantageously, the conventional art does not provide an appropriate countermeasure with which to deal with the case where the indoor air temperature of the vehicle is too high to adequately cool the high voltage battery.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention.